Why Hamilton has to be careful heading to his most successful track

Mercedes Lewis Hamilton walked away from Monaco after a 3rd place finish after the whole weekend was dominated by Red Bull. Although Hamilton’s championship lead has shrunk by 3 points, the Brit heads to one of his most successful race tracks with a 14 point lead. But what chance does his rivals have?

05/06/18

Hamilton’s chance to level with Schumacher

Lewis Hamilton is on the brink of levelling with 7 time World Champion Michael Schumacher on 7 Canadian GP wins if the Brit can win this weekend. But this time, the stats are on his on side.

Hamilton took his maiden F1 win here back in 2007 and hasn’t looked back since. Qualifying on the Saturday has been a strong point for the Brit as he has take pole position in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Converting that pace into race wins have been a good rate with the Brit winning in 2007, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2017.

2017 was the only year to date that Hamilton has taken the “clean-sweep” of Pole, Fastest Lap and the Victory.

Vettel to end Ferrari drought?

I find it quite hard to believe that Ferrari have not won round here since 2004 at the hands of Schumacher! The closest they have gotten: Schumacher’s 2nd places in 2005 and 2006, Fernando Alonso’s 3rd place in 2010 and 2nd in 2013 and with Vettel’s 2nd place in 2016. Although, the Scuderia are level on 13 wins, the same as McLaren, round here. Hope is not lost with Vettel and Raikkonen hoping to add to their solitary wins in 2013 and 2005.

Are Red Bull the “dark-horse”?

After winning in Monaco, Daniel Ricciardo returns to the circuit in which he scored his first F1 win in 2014. This was the last of Red Bull’s 2 wins round here with Vettel taking 1st in 2013. Ricciardo’s best result since was 3rd in 2017. Red Bull’s first Canadian GP podium was David Coulthard’s 3rd place in 2008 but the team had to wait until 2011 when Vettel and Mark Webber were 2nd and 3rd to get their next opportunity.

Can Bottas go one better?

Hamilton’s team-mate Valterri Bottas has had an impressive streak round here with 3rd places for Williams in 2015 and 2016 and then with Mercedes last year, 2nd place behind Hamilton. Can Bottas go one better this year and score his first win of the season?

Can McLaren score points?

McLaren have not scored points round here since Jenson Button’s 4th place in 2014 with Alonso 11th place finish in 2016 the best which they have done since.

Can Stroll step-up at home?

Lance Stroll made his debut with Williams last year and it was only fitting that the young Canadian would score the first points of his F1 career in 9th place. By doing this, he became the first Canadian to score points in F1 since Jacques Villeneuve at the 2005 British GP. Stroll will be hoping for a clean weekend with the Williams team hoping that he does not complain as much as he did in Monaco.

Can we have a different Fastest Lap holder?

Can we see someone new take the Fastest Lap during the race. Since 2010, there has not been a repeat driver taking the Fastest Lap award. Robert Kubica (2010), Jenson Button (2011), Sebastian Vettel (2012), Mark Webber (2013), Felipe Massa (2014), Kimi Raikkonen (2015), Nico Rosberg (2016) and Lewis Hamilton (2017).